"When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice..."

"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion -- when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing -- when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors -- when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you -- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice -- you may know that your society is doomed."
-- Ayn Rand

(1905-1982) Author
Source: Atlas Shrugged, p. 413
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Ayn.Rand.Quote.B589